Manifold profile

ABSTRACT

A manifold profile of a heat exchanger. The manifold profile includes two side walls, a top wall connecting the two side walls, a collecting space enclosed on three sides by the two side walls and the top wall, a receiving opening configured to receive a connection piece, the receiving opening being located on one or more of the two side walls and the top wall.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims benefit of and priority to German PatentApplication No. 20 2011 051 713.6, filed Oct. 21, 2011, the content ofwhich Application is incorporated by reference herein.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY

The present invention relates to a manifold profile of a heat exchanger.A manifold profile of a heat exchanger. The manifold profile includestwo side walls, a top wall connecting the two side walls, a collectingspace enclosed on three sides by the two side walls and the top wall,and a receiving opening configured to receive a connection piece, thereceiving opening being located on one or more of the two side walls andthe top wall.

Generic manifold profiles of heat exchangers usually consist of two sidewalls and a top wall which jointly enclose a collecting space on threesides. The manifold profile which is formed in this manner is usuallywelded or soldered together with a base plate forming the fourth side ofthe collecting space, to which tubes and plates of the heat exchangerare connected.

An opening is provided in one of the side walls or the top wall, intowhich a connection piece can be introduced, and via which opening thecooling liquid can be introduced into the manifold profile or can bedischarged from the manifold profile. Flanges or bushings are welded orsoldered onto the side wall or the top wall for fastening the connectionpieces.

The problematic aspect in these flanges or bushings that are attached tothe side walls or the top wall is that the subsequent further processingof the manifold profile is only possible by hand because the appliedflanges or bushings form discontinuous edges, as a result of which theinsertion of such a manifold profile in an automatic welder is notpossible.

The embodiments of the present disclosure include a manifold profile ofa heat exchanger which is more compact in comparison with the state ofthe art and with which a faster and more cost-effective connection ofthe manifold profile to the further components of the heat exchanger isenabled.

Thus, the embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a manifoldprofile of a heat exchanger. The manifold profile includes two sidewalls, a top wall connecting the two side walls, a collecting spaceenclosed on three sides by the two side walls and the top wall, and areceiving opening configured to receive a connection piece, thereceiving opening being located on one or more of the two side walls andthe top wall. The one or more of the two side walls and the top wallinclude fastening holes configured to accommodate fastening means forfastening the connection piece to the one or more of the two side wallsand the top wall.

In accordance with the embodiments of the present disclosure, at leastone of the side walls and/or the top wall includes fastening holes forfixing fastening means in an interlocking or frictionally engaged mannerfor the purpose of attaching the connection piece to one of the sidewalls or the top wall.

As a result of the integration of the fastening holes in the side walland/or the top wall of the manifold profile, the attachment of flangesor bushings to the manifold profile can be avoided. Thus, the manifoldprofile can be inserted in a longitudinal automatic welder, for example,in which the manifold profile can be welded together with the grid ofthe heat exchanger in block width. The production times for a manifoldprofile can be reduced substantially thereby, in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

Embodiments of the present disclosure are discussed herein, includingthe appended claims.

In accordance with an embodiment of the present disclosure, thefastening holes of the manifold profile may be provided with an internalthread, so that the connection piece can be screwed onto one of the sidewalls or the top wall.

In accordance with a further embodiment of the present disclosure, thefastening holes may be arranged as pocket holes. The wall thickness ofthe side wall or top wall is dimensioned in such a way that thefastening holes protrude sufficiently deeply from the outside into theside wall or top wall in order to offer sufficient hold for thefastening means, which fastening means may be screws, for example, forthe purpose of fastening the connection piece to the side wall or topwall.

The wall thickness of at least one of the side walls and/or the top wallis larger in a region including the fastening holes than the wallthickness of one of the side walls and/or the top wall in a regionwithout the fastening holes. Thus, in this way, despite the larger wallthicknesses in the region including the fastening holes, a sufficientlylarge collecting space remains within the side walls and the top wall.

In accordance with the present disclosure, one of the side wallsprogresses in a concave manner towards the collecting space andconverges, formed with constant wall thickness, into the top wall. Thewall thickness of the other of the side walls, together with the topwall, is arranged in such a way that the other one of the side wallsforms a rectangular triangle in the cross section together with the topwall. An outside of the other of the side walls and the top wall facingaway from the collecting space stand perpendicular to one another. And,the fastening holes in the region of the other of the side walls isprovided with the top wall.

As a result of the arrangement of the manifold profile as an at leastpartial round profile, considerable savings in material are achieved forforming the side walls and the top wall of the manifold profile.

In accordance with an embodiment according to the present disclosure,the wall thickness of the side walls together with the top wall isarranged in such a way that each of the side walls together with the topwall forms a rectangular triangle in the cross section. Receivingopenings and fastening holes are included on both sides of the manifoldprofile.

In order to also arrange a manifold profile which saves material to thehighest possible extent in the region of the fastening holes, thehypotenuse to one of the side walls formed into a rectangular triangleis arranged as an undulating or serrated line together with the topwall. That is done in order to ensure sufficient material thickness inthe region of the fastening holes protruding from the outside into themanifold profile. It is also done to save material in the other areasand simultaneously provide a larger collecting space.

The manifold profile may, according to the present disclosure, bearranged as an integral extruded profile, which thereby allows simpleproduction of the manifold profile.

Other aspects of the present disclosure will become apparent from thefollowing descriptions when considered in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a first embodiment of a manifoldprofile, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 shows a perspective view of the manifold profile of FIG. 1.

FIGS. 3 to 5 show perspective sectional views of the manifold profile ofFIG. 1 and showing the fastening holes embedded in walls of the manifoldprofile.

FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of another embodiment of a manifoldprofile, in accordance with the present disclosure.

FIG. 7 shows a perspective view of the manifold profile of FIG. 6.

FIGS. 8 and 9 show perspective sectional views of the manifold profileof FIG. 6 and showing fastening holes and receiving openings embedded inwalls of the manifold profile.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the description herein, the terms such as above, below, left, right,front, rear, for example, relate to the shown positions of the manifoldprofile. These terms shall not be understood as being limiting in anyway, meaning that such references can change by different workingpositions or mirror-symmetrical configurations, for example.

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a first embodiment of a manifold profile 1, inaccordance with the present disclosure. Manifold profile 1 includes twoside walls 6, 7 and a top wall 5 around a collecting space 9 which isenclosed on three sides and which, on its side opposite of the top wall5, can be connected to a conventional heat exchanger grid. The grid mayinclude several tubes arranged in parallel and forming cooling channelsand plates arranged in an undulating manner between the tubes.

The manifold profile 1 may, in accordance with the present disclosure,be arranged as an extruded profile and which extends along alongitudinal direction y between two face surfaces at an end side.

At least one receiving opening 3, for accommodating a connection piece,is provided in at least one of the side walls 6, 7 and/or the top wall5. Via such openings 3 a cooling medium, such as oil, air or water, canbe introduced into the manifold profile 1 or be discharged from themanifold profile 1.

Several fastening holes 4 are provided around the receiving opening 3for the purpose of fixing fastening means in an interlocking orfrictionally engaged manner. That is done for the purpose of attachingthe connection piece, so that the connection piece can be fixed withoutany connection of additional holding devices to be applied to themanifold profile 1, such as bushings or flanges. In the manifoldprofiles as known from the state of the art, such connection pieces viabushings or flanges are welded or soldered from the outside onto a sidewall or top wall.

As is shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the fastening holes 4 are, for example,arranged as pocket holes, which are introduced with respect to thecollecting space 9 from the outside into the side wall 6 or the top wall5. The material thickness of the manifold profile 1 is accordinglyadjusted in this region, that is, the wall thickness d₂ in the region ofthe side wall 6 and the top wall 5 where there are fastening holes 4 isdimensioned in such a way that it is larger than the depth of thefastening holes 4 and the wall thickness d₁ in the region where thereare no fastening holes 4 is smaller than wall thickness d₂.

In the embodiment of the manifold profile 1, as shown in FIGS. 1 to 5,the side wall 7 is formed in the region of the manifold profile 1 in aconcave manner and with constant wall thickness d towards the collectingspace 9. The side wall 7 converges continuously into the top wall 5. Thewall thickness d of the top wall 5 and the side wall 6 is dimensioned insuch a way that the side wall 6 forms a rectangular triangle with thetop wall 5 in the cross section, wherein the outside of the side wall 6facing away from the collecting space 9 and the top wall 5 standperpendicular to one another. The fastening holes 4 and the receivingopening 3 are disposed in the region of the side wall 6 and the top wall5 where the wall thickness is larger, in accordance with the fasteningholes 4. As a result of the different regions of the manifold profile 1with different wall thicknesses, for example, d₁ and d₂, optimaldistribution of material is ensured, wherein larger wall thicknesses areonly provided where receiving openings 3 are provided around theenclosing fastening holes 4.

FIGS. 6 to 9 show another embodiment of a manifold profile 11, inaccordance with the present disclosure. Manifold profile 11 isconfigured such that both manifold profile halves are provided withenlarged thicknesses, as seen in the longitudinal direction y. Themanifold profile 11 is, for example, provided with an approximatelycuboid shape. Collecting space 9 is formed in an approximatelytriangular way within the side walls 16, 17 and the top wall 15, so thatreceiving openings 13 and fastening holes 14, which enclose or surroundthe receiving openings 13, can be introduced in this manifold profile 11on both sides of the manifold profile 11, as seen in the longitudinaldirection y.

The fastening holes 4 may, in accordance with the present disclosure, beprovided, in the embodiments of FIGS. 1 and 6, with an internal thread.This is so that screws can be used as fastening means for fixing theconnection piece or pieces, which can be screwed into the fasteningholes 4.

The side walls 16, 17, which form a rectangular triangle in the crosssection, and the top wall 15 comprise an inside wall extending in thelongitudinal direction y, which inside wall represents the hypotenuse inthe rectangular triangle. An inside portion is arranged as an undulatingor serrated line 8 (see FIGS. 1-5) and 18 (see FIGS. 6-9) for optimallyutilizing material and forming optimal flow conditions.

The two embodiments of the manifold profile 1, 11, for example, thusenable material savings of up to 30% in comparison with conventionalmanifold profiles. Furthermore, no flanges or bushings need to be weldedor soldered onto the manifold profiles 1, 11, thus reducing theproduction times of manifold profiles 1, 11. As a result of theintegration of the receiving openings 3 and the fastening holes 4, inaccordance with the present disclosure, any desired number ofconnections in any size is enabled. The connections themselves can beintegrated in an optionally vertical or horizontal way, that is, on theside walls 6, 7, 16, 17 or the top wall 5, 15.

A bypass valve can, in accordance with the present disclosure, beintegrated directly into the manifold profiles 1, 11 without anyadditional bushing.

Furthermore, in accordance with the present disclosure, a more compactinstallation of the heat exchanger into a device accommodating the heatexchanger may be further enabled by the omission of the bushings orflanges which need to be attached to the outside in conventionalmanifold profiles. Finally, in accordance with the present disclosure,automatic welding of the heat exchanger in a longitudinal automaticwelder, for example, is also possible by omitting the bushings andflanges on the outside of the manifold profiles 1, 11.

Although the present disclosure has been described and illustrated indetail, it is to be clearly understood that this is done by way ofillustration and example only and is not to be taken by way oflimitation. The scope of the present disclosure is to be limited only bythe terms of the appended claims.

We claim:
 1. A manifold profile of a heat exchanger, the manifoldprofile comprising: two side walls; a top wall connecting the two sidewalls; a collecting space enclosed on three sides by the two side wallsand the top wall; a receiving opening configured to receive a connectionpiece, the receiving opening being located on one or more of the twoside walls and the top wall; and wherein the one or more of the two sidewalls and the top wall including fastening holes configured toaccommodate fastening means for fastening the connection piece to theone or more of the two side walls and the top wall.
 2. The manifoldprofile according to claim 1, wherein the fastening holes include aninternal thread.
 3. The manifold profile according to claim 1, whereinthe fastening holes are configured as pocket holes.
 4. The manifoldprofile according to claim 1, wherein a first wall thickness of one orboth of the side walls and the top wall is larger in a region of thefastening holes than a second wall thickness of one or both of the sidewalls and the top wall in a region without the fastening holes.
 5. Themanifold profile according to claim 1, wherein a first of the side wallsconverges towards the collecting space in a concave manner and is shapedwith a constant wall thickness into the top wall, whereas a wallthickness of a second of the side walls is arranged together with thetop wall in such a way that the second of the side walls, together withthe top wall, forms a rectangular triangle in the cross section, and anoutside of the second of the side walls facing away from the collectingspace and the top wall are perpendicular to each other, and thefastening holes are provided in the region of the second of the sidewalls and the top wall.
 6. The manifold profile according to claim 1,wherein a wall thickness of the side walls is arranged together with thetop wall in such a way that each of the side walls forms a rectangulartriangle in the cross section together with the top wall.
 7. Themanifold profile according to claim 5, wherein a hypotenuse of thesecond of the side walls is formed into a rectangular triangle togetherwith the top wall and is arranged as an undulating line.
 8. The manifoldprofile according to claim 1, wherein the manifold profile is arrangedas an integral extruded profile.
 9. The manifold profile according toclaim 1, wherein the connection piece is fastened in an interlockingengagement.
 10. The manifold profile according to claim 1, wherein theconnection piece is fastened in a frictionally engaged manner.
 11. Themanifold profile according to claim 6, wherein a hypotenuse of each ofthe side walls is formed into a rectangular triangle together with thetop wall and arranged as an undulating line.